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Active Living magazine publisher Jeffrey Tiessen sees himself as a “hands-on” publisher - somewhat ironic for a double-arm amputee.

DT (Disability Today) Publishing Group Inc. and Active Living were founded by the three-time Paralympian to print high-standard “inclusionary content” tied to special interest markets.

Tiessen, DT’s president, is the world record holder in the 400 meter track event in the double-arm amputee class.

Focus Changed
He explains Active Living’s focus changed from general disability community content to more specific health, fitness, sports, and recreation. 

Tiessen adds, “We do business as DT because we publish work that isn’t disability-related, including Blaze magazine and city guide Toronto with Ease. DT prints event programs, premium products, corporate publications, and multi-media exhibits from its St. Ann’s, Ontario, base.

A public speaker/leadership trainer, Tiessen is listed in Who's Who of Executives & Professionals and profiled in Heroes in Our Midst (foreword by hockey star Wayne Gretzky). In 2007, he was inducted into the Windsor Sports Hall of Fame, University of Windsor Alumni Hall of Fame, and Toronto Sports Centre Wall of Fame.

Distinct Readership
He believes Active Living pages provide information and “opportunities for healthy living and redefines what physical activity means for the disabled. (It) serves a very distinct readership” that shares ambitions of able-bodied peers, “but looks to the publication for adaptive ways to achieve those goals, regardless of age, stage, or station in life.”

Blaze magazine is a “discovery magazine about horses and the world they live in, for kids 8-14, their parents, and as a teacher’s tool.”

At age 11, Tiessen lost both arms after touching a snow-covered 27,000-volt transformer while tobogganing. “My parents were supportive. With my father’s effort to see me included in my community hockey league, I came to know at 12 that if I could play hockey again, I could do anything.”

Tiessen picked publishing after studying journalism at the University of Windsor and appreciated the “influence media has on public perception.” In 1991, the “mainstream media weren’t doing the disabled any justice; information is power for persons needing adaptive equipment, services, and products.”

Praise for JFK
After graduation, Tiessen spent a year at a disability magazine in Florida and went on his own “self-funded, with advertising and sponsorship, plus volunteers—writer, designer, etc.”

His heroes were “JFK, particularly on why we do things: not because they’re easy but because they’re hard.” Also, there’s Canadian cancer patient Terry Fox, plus “musicians, athletes, artists as a community—for creativity, passion for their work, fortitude regardless of the pay.”

Tiessen’s mentors were his parents: “They gave me the attitude that anything was possible,” and his professors:  “They showed me what was possible.”

Sports played a role. It taught him how to manage time, “rewards of preparation, believing in myself, setting lofty goals, and the power of teamwork.”

Calculated Risks
His hurdles have been “attitudinal—society’s generally lowered expectations for PWD; taking calculated risks opens new doors, regardless of the outcome.” 

To be a successful entrepreneur, disabled or not, Tiessen, 42, claims it required “passion about my work; initiative; follow-through; creativity; solution-oriented thinking; determination (particularly through lean times) and commitment of time and energy.

His advice for any entrepreneur is:

• Prepare a business plan, short-term, and long-term as a map. Different routes will present themselves and sometimes should be taken.
• Ensure you have the personality for it. Being your own boss and your-time-is-your-own are myths.

Tiessen tries to help others “define their goals, successes, and dreams.” His greatest achievements are “modest, attainable by anyone, and more a matter of attitude/fortitude.” He encourages others to “consider carefully what success means to them individually.”

Married with two children, Tiessen muses, “As a dad without hands, success isn’t found in being able to change diapers like any other dad. It’s in the way my kids embrace my hands with a sense of pride, and even brag to their friends about my amazing steel-fingered, bee-catching abilities. To my children, my so-called ‘different arms’ don’t define me, they accentuate me.”

His message is simple: “Character may be manifested in the great moments, but made in the small ones. Never let small victories go unappreciated.” Tiessen is an active, living example of his own advocacy.

In his wheelchair in Jacksonville, FL, Herb Drill heads Able Me & Associates. His e-mail address is herbdrill@ableme.com. He has Muscular Dystrophy.